


Empress Whore

by TheMatraPseudoBiblica



Series: Random Works of Weirdness [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
Genre: Birth, Chiss are Hermaphrodites, F/M, Rebirth, Weird, indignity, lots of kids, lots of screwiness, who cares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-12
Updated: 2015-02-12
Packaged: 2018-03-12 02:55:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3340964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMatraPseudoBiblica/pseuds/TheMatraPseudoBiblica
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thrawn was the mother of Palpatine's children, but she was never his wife.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Empress Whore

My life has been a long one by human standards, but not so long as I think that I will live. The thought is a depressing one.  
I have been given many chances in life, and I have cheated death more than I would like to admit. I have despaired of purpose and been exalted in glory.  
My children are the blossom of my youth and I hope that they will be the comfort of my old age. I suppose that I could marry. I am a young Chiss yet, and can still bear children for many years, but I do not feel it would be right. I have lost my virginity to one man, shared the bed of one man, and I am determined to die having been known by and knowing one man. I blame my species for this, the Chiss are refined, but they are also immoral. In our society, there is no official marriage ceremony. A couple may live with each other for a while, sometimes a long one, but there is still no binding tie but one: Kinder. Children. These must stay with their Mither, the one who bore them and gave them life. There is no attached shame to being found pregnant, it simply is. Of course, one can be relieved of their post in the military or in other jobs requiring fullness of mind and body for a time until a month after birthing, but they are even granted a percentage of their salary and a promise that their position will not be permanently filled.  
You can see why I never took a mate, nor bred myself before I was brought into contact with the Republic. Among my people, I was always the contrary one.  
In the end though, I do believe that perhaps I am not so different from them as I desire to be. It is to my endless shame that I have led my life in this fashion. As you will see, I earned the title that the Emperor’s Guard called me by: Empress Whore. 

Luke and Mara were exploring one of the Emperor’s hidden places for dark artifacts when they came across the stasis tube. “I sense something alive in there.”   
Mara began tapping at a monitor on the side. “Yes, according to this the patient was placed in stasis to save his life twenty years ago. It doesn’t say who it is though.”  
“Take a chance and open it. I don’t sense any danger.”  
There was little danger from the prisoner, that would be me, inside. As exhausted as a child from my twenty year sleep, I did not make a fuss at any time during my capture. After I had been captured and incarcerated was a different matter. Once I fully woke, I was a hellion. The inadequacy of simply locking the cabin aboard the Starry Ice was made clear on two separate occasions and the necessity of shackling me to the bedpost was made abundantly clear.  
Luke watched me through a camera that had been set up to monitor me. I was clever but unaware of the camera. As he watched, Luke realized that there was something very different about me from the Thrawn that he had gone up against before; there was a sense of wrongness about me.  
Luke knew that he would have to escort me to the Refresher soon, but he dawdled a moment. I was fiddling with the lock on my shackles. It was soon open and I was once again opening the panel over the door controls.  
Luke high-tailed it to the door and intercepted me before I had gotten the door open. The resulting tussle ended as all the others had; with me being knocked unconscious by a surgical punch after a long, hard fight. However, this one was different in that Luke was sure he had broken one of my ribs.  
Kardde had ensured that there was a set of medical scanning equipment aboard every one of his vessels and Luke made careful use of it. However, he must have done something wrong because the readings… “Mara! Can you come down here and show me how to use the scanner again?”  
Mara stumbled into the room. “I just got to bed. What’s wrong?”  
“Either the scanner is malfunctioning or I put in the incorrect instructions.”  
Mara took the scanner and reentered the instructions. “It’s going fine so far. A broken rib, several healing bruises, a few fresh bruises… that’s impossible.”  
My eyes opened. “What’s impossible?”  
Luke and Mara jumped. “How long have you been awake?”  
“Long enough to know that something is supposed to be impossible. Now what is it?”  
Luke handed the scanner to me. “See for yourself. I’m not saying it out loud.”  
I glanced at the information on the scanner and then entered more instructions. Refining and entering other queries, I shrugged. “The evidence is clear. This will put a crimp in any of my escape plans.” With a quiet sigh, I handed the scanner to Mara and got up off of the table. “With your permission, I will escort myself back to my quarters.”  
Luke and Mara exchanged glances. “How is it possible?”  
I huffed. “Chiss are hermaphrodites, obviously. May I go now?”  
And just like that, I was a transformed prisoner. I no longer made any attempt to escape, was quite docile, submitted to a physical examination by a Jedi Temple physician, and was left in a suite in the detention block of the Temple.  
Of course, there was a great deal of curiosity and excitement especially among the Temple medical staff and other doctors from various medical institutions, all of whom wanted to get their hands on permission to take samples and experiment. I flatly refused to take part in any such research and Admiral Pelleaon, who had heard the story of my discovery, was quick to rush to both my defense as a Prisoner of War and to attempt to bargain and barter for my return, and quoted the Republic’s own rules until he was blue in the face. His offers were refused, but the medical researchers were beaten back.  
Amazingly enough, I took a liking, or at least a disliking less, to Leia and C-3PO. It was they who eventually made me break my refusal to speak except in monosyllabic responses to direct questions.  
C-3PO, with his impeccable manners and fussy attitude was the first to break my ice. However, it was Leia who dragged the most information out of me. She would bring tea and sit in a chair opposite me while making conversation about her own children, and I would listen.  
Finally, Leia began questioning me about my species’ children. “Are your race’s children different from our own?”  
“Not overmuch. There is some difference in academic development.”  
“What difference?”  
“Our children begin to read and comprehend the meanings of words and numbers much earlier. However, my own children will likely deviate from the norm.”  
“Why?”  
“Because of their sire.”  
“He wasn’t Chiss?”  
“Where would I have found a Chiss to mate with?”  
“Granted. So, who was he?”  
“I would rather not answer.”  
“Were you married?”  
The answer was so quiet as to be imperceptible and tinted with a hint of shame. “No.”  
Leia fidgeted while I blushed. “Was he human?”  
“Yes, a high-ranking member of the court.”  
Leia nodded. “I almost hate to ask-“  
I cut her off. “I earned my rank before our first… encounter.”  
The conversation went on to a different topic: Jacen’s limp. “He doesn’t walk properly. I’ve been to every doctor, but they say that there’s nothing for it and that he’ll grow out of it.”  
I put a hand on my chin. “Hmmm, describe the movement for me.”  
“Well, he pauses for a long time and then takes a short, quick step before pausing again.”  
“The Emperor had a hip problem just like that. Have you seen a chiropractor?”  
“No, I thought that chiropractors were only for older people.”  
“There was a chiropractor who specialized in pediatric and geriatric chiropractory who attended several court members. Perhaps you should see her if she’s still in business. Her name was Lisa, Lisa Shell.”  
Leia sat back. “Lisa Shell… she still has a practice I believe. I heard her name mentioned by a Senator.”  
I spread my hands. “She will do a first evaluation for free, I believe. That was how she operated when I was living here. It was never her practice to take on a patient that she couldn’t help.”  
“Did you ever require her help?”  
“Once. While recuperating from a spinal surgery.”  
Leia nodded slowly. “I’ve always meant to ask. Why were you stuck in that stasis tube?”  
I put a hand to my temple. “The short answer is a series of words in the Sith tongue that I can’t pronounce and wouldn’t know how to spell in a million years. The long answer is that it was a Force related disease that saps the life-force of the victim. The ironic thing is that it can affect anyone but can only be detected by a Force-user. A long period in stasis allows the disease to run its course over a long time rather than the almost lightning fast period that it usually has.”  
“Thus allowing the body and the medicines to combat the disease.”  
“Yes, that was the theory and it has worked as far as I can tell. I certainly don’t feel ill.”  
Leia had to leave soon after, it was the twins naptime, but promised to return.

“It was amazing!” she dropped in the next day for a quick update. “She took one look said ‘just a little adjusting’ and did it right there in the exam room!”  
I applauded slowly. “She knows her craft. You should take the other one as well, just to be sure. She will make you pay for the second evaluation, though.”  
“I know, I wanted to pay for the first, but she turned me away.”  
I shook my head. “That was a mistake. You could have insulted her.”  
Leia nodded. “I know, but I don’t think she was.”  
I folded my hands. “Regardless of whether she was offended it was rude since it is her policy to offer freely. Now, if she had had no such policy, things would be different.”  
Leia agreed and left.

I became restless in my confinement. “I need to arrange for my children’s arrival,” I told Leia. “I can’t be comfortable knowing it isn’t done.”  
“I can help. What do you need?”  
I shook my head. “I won’t be beholden to you either. Now, please listen carefully if you truly wish to help: there is an account at the Imperial Bank under a false name, account 492785300. It is a hidden account that I set up so that, should the Empire fall, I would not lose everything. Use my password,” I wrote it down on a sheet of flimsi that Leia gave me, “and purchase these.” My list was a long one, but Leia understood the need for each item. “I will pay you in some way.”  
Leia folded the flimsi and nodded. “I will not accept anything, but the satisfaction of my curiosity as payment.”  
I sat back in my chair. “What do you wish to know? I am afraid that I cannot betray my government or the military that I serve even for the things that I have asked for.”  
“I am curious about you, your race, and the father of your child.”  
I considered Leia over steepled fingers. “I can offer you the first two without any regret, but I cannot give you the last.”  
“Why not?”  
“To do so would put my children in danger.”  
Leia almost laughed. “Why? We do not kill children for the sins of their father’s.”  
I stared hard at Leia. “Why not? If the Emperor was in your position and he was given the knowledge you ask for, he would.”  
Leia shook her head doubtfully. “Not all of us think like the Emperor.”  
“Granted. Still, I will not give you that choice or the opportunity for temptation.”  
Leia was in an agony of curiosity by now. “What if I swore a sacred oath never to reveal who he is to anyone else? On Alderaan, the breaking of such an oath is punishable by exile or death.”  
I lifted my head. “Not even your husband or brother?”  
“Not even my husband or brother.”  
I considered it. “Do me a favor. Have me moved to larger apartments with a kitchen and a larger bathroom. There should also be a window in the living room.”  
Leia nodded. “Reasonable considering the fact that you will be sharing those apartments soon. I will do it, and you have my oath.”  
I sighed deeply. “By the time you have learned all that I have to tell you, you may regret your curiosity.”

Leia kept her promise. She persuaded Luke to move me to apartments like the ones I described in one of the spires of the temple. There I could be kept under guard without difficulty and escape would be just as difficult as from the detention block because of the height of the spire and traffic regulations. Purchasing my required items was a little more difficult. Leia did eventually hunt down all of the things I had asked for, and was back in my apartments.  
I was sewing on the small machine that Leia had found for me and had three pins stuck in my mouth when she came in. Placing the pins in a cushion, I allowed her to inspect my work. “A simple pattern on the machine, but I am far from done with it.”  
Leia handed me the final items and watched as I inspected the pair of oval willow baskets. “Slightly different from my ideal, but they should do.” Sitting away from the machine, I took up a sewn baby gown and a needle threaded with white. “Ask your questions.”  
“First, your people, what is their government like?”  
“The government is ruled by nine royal families currently who encompass most of society through adoptions and temporary attachments. Any who fall outside of this are considered undesirable.” My fingers were moving while I spoke and I was elaborating the gown. “The actual ruling is done by the direct line.”  
“So, basically an autocracy?”  
“Yes, basically.”  
“What are the laws like?”  
“Harsh. There are many laws concerning how persons can behave towards each other and there is an emphasis on keeping the race pure. If a Chiss is found to be pregnant by a member of another race, he will be put to death and the babies too. As such, you can imagine how far from the Chiss I have deviated.” I nipped the thread with the tip of my scissors. “Otherwise, there is little difference from the laws of Imperium except that we do not hold with the practice of slavery and they have a very strong law concerning firing the first shot in a conflict.”  
“What do the people like?”  
“Most like peace, or pretend to like peace. The Chiss create our art mostly in glass and we do not have an emphasis on music as a form of expression. As far as other things go… What is there to tell? We are similar to you in how we conduct ourselves and what we do for entertainment.”  
“Okay, moving on, why did you join the Imperial Fleet?”  
“I saw nothing else to do with my life.”  
“When did you meet the father?”  
“I met the man who fathered my child via hologram about seven years before your Clone Wars.”  
“Were you attracted then?”  
“I am attracted to things that I do not understand, Miss Leia, and to intriguing people. The man was both.”  
“Did you love him?”  
“I grew to love him, but it was a strange love.”  
“Strange in what way?”  
“He did not love me. I was a means to an end. However, I did love him.”  
“You speak in the past tense. Is he dead?”  
“Yes.”  
“When did he die?”  
“Around the same time that you destroyed the Death Star.”  
“Were we, that is the rebellion, the cause of his death?”  
“Yes.”  
“Was he on the Death Star?”  
“Yes.”  
Leia leapt to a conclusion. “It was Grand Moff Tarkin, wasn’t it?”  
I gave her a look. “Tarkin had eyes only for his paramour, Nataasi Daala.”  
Leia snapped her fingers. “Drat. I suppose that you’re not going to just tell me?”  
“Miss Leia, remember that I do not want you to know of the man who has fathered my child. Since I have given you my promise to answer your questions, I will answer all but this one.”  
Leia had a thought. “How high up in the court was he?”  
“High enough to have offered me anything I desired.”  
“Was he a Moff, or was he unattached to the military?”  
I leaned my head back and my fingers stopped. “He had a position in command of the military, but his main duties had nothing to do with it.”  
Leia sat back in her chair. “I can’t think of anyone who fits that description. Well, except for Vader and…” she trailed off. “You didn’t.”  
I nervously fiddled with my work. “You have come to the truth. Now do you see why I fear for my children?”  
Leia shook her head. “The Emperor? Your child’s father is the Emperor?”  
“Was the Emperor. My children will never know their father.” My gaze turned icy. “Your brother assured that.”  
Leia felt the necessity of defending Luke. “It had to be done. The Emperor was a monster.”  
“I am not arguing.” I answered quietly. “I am stating the facts as I see it.”  
Leia stood. “I don’t know how to react.”  
I sighed. “And I haven’t even gotten to the surprising part.”  
Leia sat down. “Well, what’s the surprising part?”  
“The Emperor made sure that I knew that I was not his first lover. His first was a slave woman that he met on Kessel. A woman named Shmi Skywalker.”  
Leia drew her head up and her eyes widened. “No, it can’t be.”  
I shrugged my shoulders. “What would I have to gain by lying?”  
Leia knew I was telling the truth. She could sense my sincerity. “You’re not lying. It’s just hard to believe.” She straightened, retrieved her control. “I have much to think about. I will not tell my brother or my husband, as we have agreed.”  
I turned back to my stitching. “Thank you.”

I did not see Leia for another month. By the time she returned, my abdomen was distended far enough that the maternity jacket that I had made was necessary. I was still at work on my machine, pins hanging out of pursed lips as the small needle pumped up and down. On this particular day, it was a padded skull cap, trimmed in lace and with ribbon ties. However, as our nonsensical conversation wore on, it turned into one of the cushions for a baby basket and then into a lace-trimmed baby blanket. Leia wasn’t interested in anything real at the moment, merely in distraction.  
“Why do you love lace so much?”  
“Among the Chiss such superfluous materials are considered a waste. Adornments are kept small and sparse.” I put a few extra lavish touches on the cap. “I find myself defying my own codes and old rules more and more often.”  
“I don’t like lace much myself. I like ribbons. Brightly colored ribbons.”  
“Ribbons have their place. I like to see them in a child’s hair or in the form of the piping on a silk gown. I don’t prefer to see children dressed in bright colors, at least not at first.”  
“Why not? Colors are cheerful.”  
“It makes it harder to notice their faces. I don’t remember faces easily, and children’s faces are decidedly anonymous looking. If I cannot keep my eyes on a person’s face, I will forget him. That’s the problem with most people’s clothes; they draw attention from the face.”  
Leia had to agree. “Faces blur in my memory. Now, my friend Winter has a memory like a data stick. She never forgets anything.”  
“The Emperor was like that. He would remember everything that a person ever said and then use that to form an identity for the person. I prefer to use something more solid.”  
“The art work that a person keeps?”  
“Or the place that they live, or the way they dress.” I pulled a pin out of my mouth and continued sewing, but stopped suddenly and put a hand to my abdomen as my children moved and caused a painful heave in my insides.  
Leia sat back. “How long?” something real to talk about. Something that mattered.  
“Not too long. Another three months perhaps.” I nibbled my lip. “What date is it?”  
Leia gave me it and the date of my capture seven months earlier.  
“Then it might only be two months.” I sighed. “Either way, I must finish soon. At least with the nursing jackets.”  
My design for a nursing jacket was similar to the design of my uniform except that it had two panels in the front that could be opened.  
My statement may have sounded pessimistic, but in reality my work was fast nearing its end. Perhaps the only thing left was that which I dreaded to do, but was at the same time a necessity. There were six different baby blankets, the cushions for both baskets, four ornately tucked and pleated baby gowns and sixteen less fancy ones, there were padded skull caps with their lace frills, and all but the last few details had to be put into my nursing jackets. All that was left to make were burial shrouds so that they would be on hand if necessary. Does not death accompany those first desperate moments of life?

My birthing preparations were simple. There was to be no midwife unless I truly needed aid. I would need a basin and a dozen towels of the softest kind as well as a gentle soap. One of my two wooden chairs would be a necessity, to balance against while squatting. The bed had to be moved over, but all was simple to me, and if all went well I would need neither burial shroud nor midwife.  
The time came without fanfare. It was a simple and irrevocable announcement in the night: a rush of fluid from the womb.  
I did not panic; as a matter of fact I showed little emotion at all. Walking to the low-hanging camera, I spoke to the operators. “My time has come. Alert who you please, but do not disturb me.” Then, I picked up a towel and wrapped it around the camera.  
I took off my clothes. There were no cameras anymore and if I left them on the blood would solidify and there would be a fine mess. I put the trousers on to soak in cold water and began running the shower.   
Warmth soothes pain and relaxes muscles. Warm water does that and helps with the blood and other unspeakable fluids leaking out of a birthing mither’s body. Three hours later, I could feel that my first child was nearing a position for birth. Toweling off, I meandered into the bedroom and brought the basin. After filling the bowl with almost hot water, I squatted behind the chair and waited for the birth.  
With a white-knuckled death grip on the back of the chair, I screamed and sweated and pushed. There was no trouble in the labor, and I felt no need for aid.  
Chiss are prolific breeders and birthings of up to six babies are not uncommon: The record is twelve. Many of these babies would be much smaller than others and were less likely to survive. However, my family had a history of much smaller birthings and I was no exception. There were only four born in the cell.  
There was enough time between each birth for me to wash and dress each child. As I did, I noted that none of them shared my hermaphroditic qualities. The first was a son called Beauregard, named such for a Naboo hero. The second was also a son, Lee, for an ancient Correllian general. Then for the third there was such a desperate struggle that I was unaware of anything else. There was no time to call a midwife and I rubbed my baby’s back and breathed into her until she wailed for herself, and then I named her, Angeline Evangeline. When the final child was born, there was nothing anyone could have done, she was still. Both Angeline and my unnamed child were small enough to fit in the cup made by my doubled hands.  
I wrapped my unnamed child in one of the prepared shrouds and laid her aside with the words, “As you came, so come again. Return to us, whom you have had to leave. Possibly, for the good of all.” The words for the unborn were an instinct rather than an actual prayer. I had abandoned the religion of the Chiss by now and thus the tenant that a stillborn child’s soul would return to its mither’s body and wait to be born again.  
My sons were voracious in their onslaught, and would allow no quarter. Conversely, my daughter waited in quietude until they had finished and then she uncomplainingly stripped off whatever I had left in each breast.  
I lay on the floor, in the dark with my children, until they were fed and sleeping amid the wreck of my own body. Then, I roused myself to remove any trace that a birth had taken place.  
First, to scrub the floor. Not a pleasant task considering the amount of blood that had accompanied each child, but it was finally done. Then, a shower. I dressed myself in fresh garments and emerged refreshed. Finally, to deal with the stillborn one. I called for Leia using the security camera, and greeted her in the living room. “One dead, three living.”  
Leia took the bundle from my hands. “I am so sorry. Should it be buried, or cremated?”  
“She,” I corrected.  
“Should she be buried or cremated?”  
On Csilla, cremation is the norm. “Take care of her in the fashion of the Naboo.”  
Leia nodded. “In the fashion of her father, then.”  
“Yes, in the fashion of her father.”  
Leia left quickly and quietly and I returned to my bed. If I was to fulfill my function as Mither, I would need all the rest I could get.  
Luckily, the children slept until 0700 and I had to get up to feed them. With Beauregard and Lee at my breasts, Angeline once again waited. Please allow me to note that though Angeline often went last when it came time to nurse, this was not because I did not love her, merely because Beauregard and Lee were more insistent that they be fed.  
No one but the guard who delivered food disturbed me. That was fine, just fine. It gave me time to think, and I came to a resolution: There was no way that Leia, kind though she had been, should be allowed to besmirch her reputation by fraternizing with the enemy.  
Leia came for a visit the week after my birthing. I was nursing in the living room of my quarters with my sons at my breast and Angeline in my lap and she sat opposite me. “What are their names?”  
I patted each of their little heads in turn. “Beauregard is the eldest, Lee is the second, and Angeline Evangeline is the third.”  
Leia reached for Angeline, but I unconsciously shrank back. “Please. I would prefer it if you did not touch her.”  
Leia tipped her head to the side. “What are you afraid of? Is something wrong?”   
I made myself laugh, shaky and soft. “I am afraid it is very silly.”  
“No, it’s probably not.”  
I made myself tell her. “On Csilla, if a child is born and does not open its eyes within three days, it is exposed.”  
“Exposed?”  
“Placed in a short, circular urn, and left in the wilderness to die.” I turned Angeline’s face to Leia. “She has not opened her eyes even once.”  
Leia’s face showed her horror. “No one here will ever force you to do such a thing. No one here would allow it.”  
I bowed my head gratefully. “I know, but the fear is still there.”  
Leia took Beauregard from me when he had finished nursing and I raised Angeline to my breast. “Beauregard and Lee look a lot like you do, but Angeline looks like a normal, human baby. Well, beyond how tiny she is.”  
“Children born this size are common for Chiss. It is a result of our tendency towards large birthings. Actually, four is a fairly small number by Chiss standards. I believe that the record number of children in a single birthing is twelve.”  
Leia almost dropped Beauregard and I reproachfully instructed her to lay him in his basket beside Lee, who had also finished. “I’m sorry, Thrawn. I’m a bit surprised.”  
I smirked sadly. “I know. The Emperor had a similar reaction.” I laid a hand on Angeline’s pink head. “Which brings me to another thing. We are still enemies.”  
Leia watched as Beauregard began sucking one blue fist. “Yet we are also family.”  
“Yes, and when our governments are at peace, we can act as family, but for now it would be best if you forgot everything I have told you about our connections to each other. It will not be long, I think. Perhaps another two years.”  
Leia hesitantly agreed. “Will I never see you until then?”  
“I believe that would be best.” I felt Angeline finish and buttoned up my jacket. Staring directly at her, I noticed something for the first time. Lifting her, I showed her scrunched up face to Leia, and she saw the two liquid pools of bluish-silver.  
Leia reached out with hesitant fingers and touched Angeline’s face. “Her eyes are open.”  
I nodded and felt pride in my voice. “For the very first time.”

I did not see Leia for the next two years. In that time, Beauregard and Lee began to creep and then to walk and speak their first words. Angeline developed more slowly. Though she listened, she did not speak, and though she crept, she did not walk. This was to be expected considering her birth and I was not concerned for her except for the boisterousness of her brothers.  
Leia did not entirely forget me. My sons received a large box of wooden blocks with letters and numbers on them, and Angeline received a doll on their first birthday.  
Angeline’s hair had grown out more, and showed a dark red. Not her Father’s red. Dark, rich, ruby red. When I held her on my lap, she smiled and watched her brothers crawling about the floor. The milk I used to produce had dried up for all of them, and they had taken solid food. If we were on Csilla, I would have had four celebrations to manage; one for birth, one for their first teeth, one when they began to crawl, and their first birthday. I promised myself that when I was free, I would make a large one for their second birthday.  
Beauregard and Lee were huge for their age and crawled about freely, jabbering in infant voices. Already, they liked to wrestle with each other. Angeline did not crawl, nor did she walk. Not yet.  
Admiral Pelleaon had come to visit me on my first day out of the detention cell. Good old Pelleaon, if only it was me and not the clone that he knew. But then, I suppose I would very likely be dead.  
Angeline was sitting primly on his lap when Leia came in. We were both in a meditation garden: the Room of a Thousand Fountains.   
“Hello, Admiral Pelleaon, Thrawn.”  
Pelleaon nodded to her. “Councilor Solo.” However, he was far too busy coaxing Angeline to smile to pay much attention to her.  
I saw all of Leia’s questions before she asked them. “I am considering applying for citizenship here.”  
Pelleaon took what must have been a shock with surprisingly good reflexes. Angeline did not even slip in his lap. “Citizenship? In the New Republic? Whatever for?”  
I smiled inscrutably. “I will explain all soon enough. First, I must go about seeing where I stand. I may still have considerable interests in New Republic space. I trust it will cause no problem.”  
“No, I don’t believe so. Not with a dual citizenship. As for your resignation,” Pelleaon shrugged. “If I had these three darlings, I would put aside the Fleet as well. Your pension should be enough to support all of you.”  
I nodded. “If I am correct, I should be able to live well enough without the pension.”  
Leia looked from one to the other. “Is there something that I’m missing?”  
“I am as confused as you are, Councilor,” Pelleaon lifted a hand and gestured helplessly.  
I could only smile. “I will need to leave to see if my assets are intact tomorrow. I trust that you have arranged for a transport?”  
“Well, I was actually hoping that you would allow Han and myself to come with you, or at least Luke.” Leia shifted. “I do have my eyes on an affordable transport. Fast, but roomy enough for the children.”  
I shook my head. “No, I must go alone. Please purchase the transport.”  
Pelleaon handed Angeline to me and picked up Beauregard. “Your clone had a few pieces of artwork and some miscellaneous personal items. He left them to me. Do you want them?”  
I shook my head. “No, you keep them. They were probably never mine.” I smiled sadly. “You knew a different person from me. Though I wish I knew you better, I will not pretend that we were the same.”  
Pelleaon nodded. “I know.”  
We all lapsed into silence as Leia picked up Lee. With a child on each of our laps, no one wished to break the silence, because no one wanted to ask the next question.  
Pelleaon was the first one to grow uncomfortable. “How long do you think we can keep these children’s father a secret?”  
“Not long. I do not intend to be public with the knowledge, but there are those who will figure it out.”  
Leia sighed. “I see that Pelleaon knows as well.”  
“He was our Supreme Commander. I learned as much about him as possible. Though she does not have his hair, Angeline has his eyes.”  
Thrawn nodded. “I saw old holo-grams of him once. The most intensely beautiful eyes I have ever seen, but also the most frightening.”  
All three of us lapsed again into silence.

My journey in the newly purchased craft was a pleasant one, but thick with anticipation. After so long…  
I sent a message about eight hours before we were expected to land. In accordance with that message, a speeder was sent to pick me and the children up. It was before dawn on Naboo.  
I sat in the front seat and watched the scenery go by. Out of a speaker in the dashboard, a voice spoke to me. “I must say, Mistress Thrawn, you and Master Palpatine have both been very discourteous to me. You didn’t even send a message telling me what to do. I had to dismiss all the hands, of course, and the animals have run wild for sixteen years. All but the tuskcats and the oldest of the Appelung will be perfectly wild. I have kept intruders out for all these years using our defense shields and, of course, the wall.”  
“I am sorry, Jarvis. No one knew that we would be gone so long. I’m sure you’ve done your best. Continue report.”  
“The gardens are choked with weeds. The orchard still stands, but the trees are in need of pruning. The nut trees and bushes are still standing tall and strong. The vineyard is in desperate need of maintenance. All of the crop lands are full of sproutlings that will have to be cleared. I won’t even go into the state of the berry bushes. The onions that were planted have grown wild and spread. At least the buildings are fine, all except the barn and stables, those need to be re-roofed and at least three main support beams are in danger of falling over.”  
“Search the holonet for a contractor and have them send a man to get a quote on any and all work that needs to be done. Replace all of the broken droids and look for field hands.”  
“Yes, Mistress.”  
“How about the interiors?”  
“All thickly coated in dust and other grime, but with the exception of one broken window, untouched. The musical instruments and book cases were sealed along with the vaults.”  
I lowered my voice. “And the will?”  
“Right where it was last left, Mistress. I have kept it safe in the vault for you.”  
I relaxed. “Well, then. All should turn out fine.”  
“I hope so, Mistress.”  
I had to feed my children the breakfast I had brought with us and it was almost 0900 when the speeder slipped through a great iron gate in an imposing wall of stone.  
The ride to the manor took an additional hour at a speed of almost three-hundred miles per hour. Jarvis had not been exaggerating the need for work to be done. Even from my position in the speeder I could see that there was plenty of work ahead.  
Convergence, as the hereditary estate of House Palpatine is known, is a beautiful place even in disrepair. The windows needed washing, the pathway up from the speeder was barely visible, weeds choked all the best flower beds, and things were generally a mess. The interior was almost as bad. There was a thick layer of dust everywhere, and I could hardly force myself to carry my children in. The vaults were hardly in better condition, but there in a black chest, were four copies of a will on flimsi and sealed with Palpatine’s seal. I sent one copy to Leia, one to the Attorney Public of Naboo, and one to Admiral Pelleaon. Of course, I kept the fourth and left it right where it was.  
Writing invitations to Leia, Pelleaon, and to Luke Skywalker, I sent them through a series of underground tubes specifically designed for taking mail to and from the remote estates. My children’s second birthday was coming, and the few months in between would give me just enough time to return to normal.  
The contractors came and went. They repaired and re-roofed all of the damaged buildings and rebuilt the fences of the croplands, meadows, and corrals. Then, they built living quarters for the field hands and other men that I would soon hire. At last, they repaired the wineries and preservatory. All the buildings are in the Naboo style, which means that they look very pretty and decorative from the outside. The restoration was all over in two weeks: 50,000 credits.  
I hired seventeen rough-riders to round up the herds of shaak, the tuskcats, and the Appelung. True to Jarvis’ word, most had gone wild. Many of the Shaak, bulbous creatures quite like pigs, had to be culled and most of the boars were castrated. The tuskcats, giant cat-like creatures with two tusks that can be ridden as mounts, had bred over the years, but their adults knew me and knew humans, and the young ones followed their example. The Appelung, mounts like the tuskcats resembling giant black or white horses but with huge thick coats that had to be clipped every year and could be carded, spun, and woven like wool. The riders each had to be paid two thousand credits every week and the trainers for the tuskcats and Appelung cost three thousand every week. All together 35,000 credits a week.  
Field hands costing a thousand credits a week had to be hired. There were three hundred that I needed and only a hundred that could be found yet. Jarvis had to look off-world for more workers.  
A good gardener would need a team of six to restore the grounds of the house: 10,000 credits a week that would reduce to 6,000 when the wilderness was beaten back.  
I was not idle. The house was my responsibility and I went at it with a will. All that dust gave me an excuse to stay up at the house and allow Jarvis in the body of a golden protocol droid similar to C-3PO to handle the workers. I had to replace miles of faded carpet and drapes. The antique furniture had to be sent to the upholsterer to be redone. I sewed new clothes for my children and planted an herb garden right outside the kitchen door.  
It took a month of hard work, but by the time my friends and Skywalker arrived, I was truly the Mistress of Convergence. Not that Convergence was truly restored yet, but it was a step in the right direction.  
Leia and Han and their children were the first to arrive. I had hung the garden where the birthday feast was to be with paper lanterns of many colors and the peaches were in their perfect season for picking. The trees could not be pruned until winter when the bugs and other diseases were less troublesome for them. So there were a great variety of branches to pick from. The next year the fruit trees would be trimmed into neat globes, but I decided that I would instruct the field hands to leave at least a dozen trees of each kind that grew on Convergence wild so that there would be branches close to the ground for my children to reach.  
I gave Leia and Han a tour in Jarvis’ largest speeder. As we sped along over the ground, I told them what had been when I had visited with Palpatine for the two summers we had been together. Han may as well have known if he hadn’t connected the dots already. Our children were left in Jarvis’ capable care.  
I skipped most of the fields. There wasn’t much to see in them since they were still choked with the wild plants that grew up during the years. I had Jarvis stop the speeder at the peach orchard. “These peaches are a special strain that was bred by Palpatine’s grandfather. They have a very small pit, but unlike most small stone peaches, these are free stones.” I reached up and plucked a perfectly ripe gilded globe. An early ripening one, it would never survive the harvest that would happen in a week. Taking out a pocket knife, I sliced into it. “Most of the peaches will be made into Convergence wines and preserved, but some are sent fresh to market.” I offered the slices of peach to Leia and Han.  
We moved on to different orchards. “These are cherries. They should have been harvested earlier, but by the time the field hands got to them, the fruit was ruined for eating and very little was left that could ferment. Cherries can become wine as well, but more of them can be sent fresh than peaches because they are firmer and less easy to bruise.”  
Leia had a question. “Are the cherries a special breed as well?”  
“No, only the peaches. The first peach trees were brought by the first members of House Palpatine. They are considered to be our signature tree.”  
After the cherries come the citrus; orange, lime, lemon, and pomelo. “All these are cold-resistant strains. In response, the fruit is smaller than others, but have a specific flavor. All of this crop is made into wine and fruit juice. There are many varieties of each kind of fruit from blood oranges to pink lemons.”  
After citrus are the apricot trees. There are not so many apricot trees and they do not always give up their orange fruits.  
Then, finally, ancient apple trees. “These were originally House Naberrie orchards, and all the land from now on once belonged to them. Palpatine’s family bought that house’s lands over the years until it had only Varyinko left, and Palpatine bought that after Padme Amidala’s parents had died and her sister did not want it.” I gesture towards the glittering water. “Most of the lands that were bought are actually sections of the lakes that surround the Eastern edge of the estate. The waters are full of fish and shellfish. The land is mostly rice land and produces a sweet and sticky rice grain that I particularly enjoyed even before I knew where it was from. The wall is a very recent addition. As soon as the proper work is finished, I will have climbing roses planted all around the outside of the wall to make it less harsh.”  
“You love decorations, don’t you?” Han asked.  
“I have an appreciation for extras that I cannot deny. It was not a good thing by my species’ standards, but I do not care.”  
“Why did the Emperor leave you this whole place? Something I’m missing?”  
Leia grabbed her husband and muttered something into his ear. Han blushed and muttered apologies.  
“I do not mind. I am not ashamed of the fact of my children’s father. I am ashamed of the means and that I did not insist on a marriage on paper at least. Let us not discuss it. Now, the vineyards are planted with over twenty varieties of grape. Most are wine grapes, but there are table grapes as well.” I changed the subject in haste. I am indeed not ashamed that my children’s father was the Emperor, but I am ashamed that I went so easily.  
The tour ends with the meadows and corrals. “The Shaak is a Naboo animal that gives milk and meat. Their fat is also used as a base for perfume. Most of this herd will be slaughtered in the fall. Shaak is considered a delicacy on some planets, but most simply enjoy the meat for its marbled quality. The tuskcats herd the Shaak for us when they are trained properly. Appelung are great mounts and produce fine quality wool. Our herd is now two hundred strong, but most are untrained. Each mare might give birth to a foal every spring and Appelung wool is in high demand right now. Indeed, the Appelung itself is in demand as a mount. Some of these might be sold in the fall when auctions are conducted.”  
Luke and Pelleaon arrived at practically the same time. I promised them a second tour in the morning. At dinner that night, we all sat and discussed politics. All was well. After the children had gone to sleep, I told them what had driven me to the Imperial Fleet. “There is a race of conquerers with unfamiliar technology encroaching on the galaxy. The Imperial fleet seemed to be the only thing that had a chance of stopping them. Even the Chiss fleets were nothing by comparison, as far as strength and strategy go. Now, that option is no longer there.”  
Pelleaon nodded. “We are much reduced. And, forgive me, the Republic Fleet is not half so strong as the Imperial one was.”  
Leia reluctantly agreed, “Even with the Emperor dead, the Fleet could have annihilated us if the Grand Admirals and Moffs weren’t so busy fighting each other for the territory left behind.”  
Han grumbled. “We’d have managed somehow.”  
Luke Skywalker is quiet and thoughtful. It was at this time that I began to think that perhaps Luke did not deserve the resentment I bore him. Even though he was the reason that the Emperor died, I know that he did what would have had to be done. I never truly believed that he would ever retire, which he spoke of often when we spoke of Kinder, and therefore he would have to die eventually. It does sting that he has never seen his children, but I cannot really complain.  
“I do not know when they will begin to strike. Whether it will be long enough to allow us to recover military strength is the question. I have influence in the Imperium, but I do not know if that is enough. I can offer little proof beyond vague and shadowed reports, and the Imperial citizens are exhausted by war.” I was uncertain whether anyone there believed me except for Pelleaon. “Further, I believe that there are other dangers as well. The Unknown Regions, however much they have been mapped and added on to the Imperial Remnant, are full of secrets, and there were things that the Emperor would not tell me of.”  
Luke looks up. His well-publicized fight with Exar Kun has made him cautious of Sith Lords on general and their secrets in particular. “If the Emperor would not tell you his secrets, then they are truly something to be feared.”  
I nodded gently. Our conversation slowly died. There was nothing any of us can do with nothing but one of the Emperor’s whores’ story, I have been told that there were others after me but none that had lasted so long as two years, a Jedi hunch, and an Admiral’s trust in that particular Whore. No one who could do anything for the cause would believe me with only bedroom conversation for proof, and Pelleaon and the Skywalker twins could be smeared by association with any such story.  
We can only wait and hope.

I was busy in my kitchen for all of the next day. Leia was beside me, but the men were exploring the manor and the estates as far as their legs can take them. I do not mind. Pelleaon is clumsy where crowded spaces are concerned and Leia assures me that Han couldn’t cook if he would try. As for Luke… I was not ready for him to be around me for long periods yet.  
I had spent a whole day in the markets in Theed gathering the ingredients for the birthday feast. Theed is so far away that I have realized that if I must go into the city, then I must leave very early. When Convergence’s gardens are filled with growing things again, I will not need to go to Theed except on very rare occasions.  
Jacen and Jaina are dear children, but as troublesome as is possible. I finally convinced Leia to help me place them in a play pen in the breakfast nook with my own two sons. Angeline is sleeping in a sling on my back; I still do not want to allow her freedom.   
Leia notices this. “Is Angeline still unable to crawl?”  
“Yes, and I do not like to allow her to be on the floor when I cannot watch her. I am afraid for her.”  
“She is still very small.”  
“Absolutely tiny,” I reached behind myself and touched Angeline. “It is normal for children born in such a way as she was to develop slowly.”  
Leia nods gently. “She is lovely.”  
I smiled. “I know. She has the darkest red hair I have ever seen.”  
We worked hard and quickly. Before the day was done, a twenty dish Chiss celebratory meal was prepared and waiting.  
Chiss celebrations are the one exception to the general rule about simple living. The dishes can have as many as three hundred ingredients and take two weeks to prepare, but my tastes were much simpler than that. The most ingredients that one dish has is thirty, a spice cake made with lard and spices and fruit slices of all kinds in a decorative mosaic. There is also a tart made of white custard and covered in sugared fruits. When I was a young Chiss, such luxury would be unthinkable and the thought makes me remember Thrass. What would he think to see me now? I dashed tears from my eyes and blamed them on the onions.  
Han, Pelleaon, and Luke begin to reappear right before the meal is ready. Leia’s eyes are full of puckish humor as she observes that men always seem to come out of the woodwork when it is time to eat. I nodded, but I was thinking of the one man who should be here who isn’t.

My children kept me busy for the next few months. Teaching them required quite a bit of effort on both our parts and life became a routine. The final harvest was brought in and twenty of the Appelungs were sheared and taken to auction. The shaak were slaughtered and the meat was sold. For a time, there would be nothing for any of us to do in the gardens and school could begin in earnest.  
Of course, there were no amazing leaps of sudden understanding. My children were as other children, if slightly quicker to understand than others.  
Leia and Luke were wrapped up in politics and I was allowed to slip down the list of priorities. I didn’t mind, I wanted time with my children.  
I began to have dreams of my life at the Imperial Court. Most often, I experienced my moments with the Emperor.  
One night these dreams took a strange turn. I was asleep in my bed and the door opened. Knowing that none of my children could open a door, I sat up and reached for the hold-out blaster that I kept under my pillow. However, the man who was stepping softly closer gestured and the blaster slipped away from me. “You do not need that.”  
I recognized some elements of the voice, but the form was still alien to me. “Who are you?”  
“Have you forgotten the father of your children so quickly?”  
“Palpatine,” I breathed. Then I realized that I was dreaming. “What do you want?”  
“To see you again. I have already visited my children.” Palpatine gestured and the light flicked on. “Things have changed quite a bit.”  
The man in front of me looked like Palpatine when he was thirty. He had flaming red hair and eyes like pools of silver. I recognized him from a holo-picture.  
“Palpatine, you’re looking well.”  
“Oh, I’ve been doing fine.” Palpatine sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled off his boots. “I’ve been better, but I’m doing fine.”  
I turned back a corner of the covers. “I can’t say I’m entirely glad to see you.”  
“Well, you’re not really seeing me.”  
“I’m not?”  
“Nope, you’re dreaming.”  
I sighed and turned off the light. “I know.”

“What are your thoughts on life, Thrawn?”  
“Why do you ask, Emperor?”  
“A man’s thoughts and opinions are a natural mirror of his spirits.” Palpatine ran a hand down his lover’s side. “I have decided that you are the best to carry my children, but that doesn’t mean that I am not interested in the thoughts and viewpoints you will teach them.”  
Thrawn rolled onto his back and lifted one leg straight up. “I believe that life has a meaning and laws, but I have not been able to find any true code of conduct that mirrors what I see.”  
“Hmmm, I have heard an answer like that before.”  
“I read about a sect of people that claimed to have the answers to all of life’s mysteries.”  
“Christians.”  
“Correct,” Thrawn rolled back to his side. “I could not find anyone who espoused the belief who truly believed what they said, though. The ones who attempt to compromise with the rest of the world are unconvincing, and the ones who do not are afraid. They do not seem to trust their own god, so how can I?”  
Palpatine nodded slowly. “When I was very young, there was one. She was a firebrand. A true believer, and a bold one at that. People called her crazy, but she didn’t care.”  
“I wish I could meet her. What happened?”  
“She died in a fire. She was helping in a rescue. Her god did not save her from smoke.” Palpatine applied his lips to Thrawn’s. “But do not brood on unhappy things now.”

It was natural to me at the time that things should be as they had been between us. The land of dreams is made to be a haven from reality, not a place to hide deceptions.  
The dreams continued and always afterward, I woke alone with the sheets cool beside me. There was never a lonelier time for me than these and often afterwards I would creep down the hall and sit beside my children’s beds to watch them dream in their young imaginations.  
I was determined to keep the children’s father a secret from them at least. I hoped that the past would never intrude into the future. Perhaps that was foolish of me, and it did cause some problems in later years, but at the time it seemed to be a means of protecting my children from the pall of their father’s shadow. To this object, I gathered anything that attached the house and myself to Palpatine and hid the objects in the attic. I cut the dedication pages out of many of Palpatine’s personal books and covered the sigil of triangles that had been his seal with an ornate tapestry.  
The dreams continued for two months and I was grateful to have them while I had them. My memory was beginning to fail me in the details of mine and the Emperor’s encounters, and the dreams brought those memories back and breathed life into them.  
I taught my children about recent history in very vague terms and hoped that by the time that they were exposed to the outside world, the Rebellion and the fall of the Emperor would have ceased to be of great import. There was nothing else to be done if they were to continue in ignorance.  
Angeline was still a delicate child and did not join her brothers in their games. Instead, she played with the small, soft dolls that I had bought her on one of my rare trips into Theed and sang in a soft baby voice. Beauregard and Lee went crashing through the house on a daily basis if they were not learning their letters and numbers with me, chasing after brightly colored balls and shouting for joy in their childish voices.  
I was happy as well. There was nothing I loved better than spending time in the gardens with my children all around me. Well, I must admit that my happiness was as yet imperfect. I am a greedy Mither and I desperately wanted more children than the three I had.

The night that the world began to collapse around me was a fairly normal one. Angeline had been vomiting after dinner and Beauregard and Lee had a slight sniffle. All three were tucked away into their beds and I was exhausted. Naturally, I couldn’t sleep.  
It began to rain around midnight and did not let up. Finally, something happened that would send dread through me for a very long time. The door of my bedroom opened, and Palpatine walked in.  
I knew I was wide awake and leapt to my feet. “What-“ My voice was muffled before any sound could leave my throat.  
“Don’t cry out, Thrawn. You’ll wake the children.”  
I felt my trachea released and massaged my throat. “Palpatine. How?”  
“A back-up plan. One that required quite a bit of time to complete.”  
I sank to the bed and closed my eyes. “This isn’t real.”  
“Oh, it is very real. It has been real for a long time now.” He moved forward and motioned with one hand to turn on the lamps.  
I opened my eyes to stare directly into Palpatine’s. They really were the same as Angeline’s. “Why are you here?”  
Palpatine sat down on the bed beside me. “Is it so inconceivable that I wanted to see you? To be with you?”  
I shook my head. “There’s always a purpose.”  
Palpatine sighed and rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “Sith Masters grant me patience.” Then, he turned to me. “You know that it has been almost twenty years since we were last together. In that time I took three other companions. Though I saw them sooner than I saw you, it was not memories of one of them that comforted me while I was transitioning into this body. It was you. There has never been another like you in all of the time we have been apart. I don’t even remember their names anymore.”  
I crossed my arms. “Am I expected to be flattered?”  
“Now, don’t give me that look. Can you really expect me to stay celibate simply because you were out of it?”  
I gave him an even more sour expression. “I would have.”  
“To each his own,” Palpatine sighed. “I can see you’re not in the mood tonight. Shall I come back tomorrow?”  
I must admit to some shell-shock and I agreed to a meeting for the next night and allowed the reborn emperor to kiss me before he left.

The next evening’s meeting was accompanied by stomach flu. Not the most romantic setting, as Palpatine quipped while holding Angeline. My poor daughter was crying her heart out as whipped cream and peach chunks made their reappearance.  
Palpatine helped me put Angeline to bed and then sat in my children’s bedroom and watched over them while I changed her sheets and put the messy ones on to wash. I admit, he was a much more tender personality when he was around our children.

Palpatine faded into the mist early the next morning, and I was deeply confused. What should I do? Should I tell Luke or Leia Skywalker that I had been visited by Palpatine? Should I simply let it be? What were Palpatine’s intentions in this mess?  
I couldn’t deal with any of it, so I let it be. Palpatine visited me and his children, though he did not reveal his identity to them at my request, and life went on. I discovered the conception of a second birthing and made preparations for new children. Jarvis dealt with the hands and I taught my children.

Angeline began talking all of a sudden. She was sitting on my lap while I read to her, and then she gave a cry of, “What was that?” and with the grace of a dancer, she leapt off of my lap and went scampering off to find her brothers. When all my children assembled themselves in front of me, I stared dumbfounded at Angeline. “Angeline? You can speak? And walk?”  
“Yes, yes,” Angeline, all of three years, was bouncing up and down on her feet in front of me and crossly giving a lecture. “Now, what bounced me off of your lap?”  
I placed a hand on my abdomen and felt the kick that must have “bounced” Angeline off. “Well, Angeline, there’s something I have to tell you all.”  
Beauregard and Lee crowded around my knees. “What is it? What is it?”  
I bent down to their level. “Have you seen the young Shaak that play with their mothers in Springtime?”  
At their earnest nods, I continued. “Well, those young Shaak grew inside their mothers before being born in the Spring, and that is what’s happening to me.”  
Beauregard scratched his head. “You’re not growing inside of someone else.”  
“No, silly,” I plucked him up and planted a kiss on his head. “I have babies growing inside of me.”  
Angeline looked critically at my waist. “Is that why you’re getting so fat?”  
The honesty of a young child. It is to be treasured. “Yes, Angeline, that is why I am growing larger.”  
“But what makes a baby grow?”  
I shifted uncomfortably. “That, my daughter, is an explanation for another time.” I stood. “I need to make a call. All of you play nicely with each other, and I will return shortly.”  
I had made up my mind. Now that my children knew of my pregnancy, it would soon spread. Naboo are not prone to malicious gossip, but they did have a tendency to know the details of their neighbor’s private life. Therefore, I had to contact Leia.  
“Thrawn,” Luke answered instead of Leia. “What’s wrong?”  
My first instinct was to bristle. I didn’t like the young Jedi. “Where’s Leia?”  
“She’s in labor. Is there something you need her for?”  
“Yes... No, you’ll do. Are you alone?”  
“Yes, I’m in the comm-suite at my sister’s house with Jacen and Jaina.”  
I swallowed hard. “I have reason to believe that the Emperor is back.”  
Luke’s jaw dropped, but he recovered himself. “Give me all the details you have.”  
I explained about my dreams and how the reborn emperor had come to me.  
Luke moved his hands gently. “It was probably simply a dream. I had bad ones myself for a while after the Emperor died and they seemed very real.”  
I snapped, “Nightmares do not hold a person’s figure close at night, and dreams do not leave women pregnant.”  
Luke froze. “Then you are…?”  
“In my fifth month.”

The alert went out all over the Republic and the hunt began. I do not know what lies were told so that my story would be believed, but I do not want to. It was exhausting enough for me as it was without my being involved.  
I had to take care of the children I already had in addition to preparing for the new ones and that was not easy in and of itself.  
Beauregard and Lee appeared to be jealous of the new babies. When Leia insisted that I go to a doctor and have a prenatal scan, it revealed quintuplets. On our way home, I noticed that they were unusually wiggly and quite destructive.  
“Beauregard! Lee! Give your sister her doll back and stop pulling her hair!”  
Lee sulkily released the doll and then folded his little arms across his chest. Beauregard gave me a defiant look and tweaked one of Angeline’s pigtails viciously.  
Without warning, I reached back and swatted Beauregard across the face. “Stop that!”  
I had barely made contact with his cheek, but the way Beauregard carried on, one would think he’d been slugged. Well, I sent him to bed to sleep off his bad mood and didn’t give him dessert at dinner, but the destruction continued. After Angeline’s braids, an antique vase suffered, and then several jars of jam were spread over the kitchen. Fixing the culprit with an exhausted look, I ordered him to his room and scrubbed alone.  
The next morning I could hardly drag myself up out of bed, but I could hear Beauregard and Lee clamoring to be let down out of their cradles. Giving each of my three children a hug, I set them down on the floor and watched as they raced away. Only four years old, but as strong and steady as if they were eight. It must be Palpatine’s blood in them.  
My troubles with Beauregard were solved with the coming of the beginning of harvest time. When my young sons were too busy picking cherries off of the low branches of the trees to make trouble, things ran smoothly. My workers were friendly and enjoyed the company of my children as they worked. I trusted them with their safety as my sons raced about the orchard gathering cherries and either packing them into the nearest basket or eating them. They had developed a taste for the tartness of the bright red Montmorency.

When I reached my term, the hunt for Palpatine’s secret places was still on, but Leia came away from her duties to help me. As before, I would have no one with me during the birth, but she aided me in caring for my other children.  
I have never known such pain as I did in the birth of my little Aurora. Unfortunately, this birth was crossed and I needed aid. However, before I could call to Leia to summon a midwife, I was interrupted by the father of my child coming up behind me. “Thrawn. I came as soon as I could.”  
I staggered back. “Palpatine… I need a midwife…”  
Palpatine shook his head gently. “Trust me, Thrawn. Lie down and relax.”  
Palpatine had skill that I would not have attributed to him previously. Kneading and pushing from both the inside and out, he moved Aurora into position and I gave birth a few minutes later.  
Once Aurora was in my arms, I felt Anno Domini moving into place and suffered through his birth as well. Palpatine washed both of our children and dressed them. In the interval, I gave birth to two at once. Both were as tiny as Angeline had been. Palpatine took them in his hands. “May I name these?”  
I nodded. “I have named five. It is only fair.”  
Palpatine studied one in each hand while I felt the beginnings of a fifth set of contractions. “They are both hermaphrodites.”  
“That should have little effect. Can they be named in such a fashion…?”  
Palpatine nodded slowly, but he was completely ignoring me. “Yes, I believe… Loki. The pale one is Loki. This one, the patched one, is Ashvaria Rei. She will be a different kind of child, and not merely because she is physically challenged.”  
“Physically challenged…?” I barely whispered.  
“She is blind, mute, and this shoulder will be useless for the rest of her life. She was partially crushed sometime during gestation.”  
The scream I let out had nothing to do with Augustus, who was the final child to be born.  
Palpatine soothed me with one hand. “It was not your fault. You could not have done anything to hurt your own child.”  
My cries returned to normal, but I could not banish the lingering idea that I had caused her injury in some way.  
When Augustus was finally laid in my arms, I was exhausted from my labor and could hardly summon the strength to nurse my newborn children. Palpatine left me as soon as I had finished my duties and could allow myself to fall asleep.

The cramps that had plagued me during labor were still around for the next four days and seemed to be taking vengeance.  
The notion that birth was only hard the first time does not apply to Chiss. Our labors become harder with every pregnancy.  
Leia admired my young children the next morning. “Five little ones… Truly amazing.”  
I nodded tiredly. “They are, aren’t they?”  
“All of your children have the Force, you know. They might need training soon.”  
I raised my head slowly. “What did you say?”  
“Training. To become Jedi.”  
I found that the very idea made my blood boil. If they were trained to be Jedi, then I might never see them again. “No.”  
Leia put down Aurora and picked up Anno Domini. “What do you mean?”  
“I mean ‘no.’ I will not send my children away.”  
Leia placed Anno Domini in my arms. “We need such as the Jedi to add stability to our forming government, Thrawn.”  
“NO!” I screamed and whipped myself into such a froth that Beauregard, who had crept in behind Leia began to cry. I stood up and scooped up my son into my free arm. “The only thing that comes of Force training is suffering.”  
“Thrawn-“  
“Just go away!”

Beauregard and Lee were noticeably absent from my room for the next two days, but Angeline came to visit me with an armload of tulips.  
“Aunt Leia’s awful weird, Mither,” Angeline clambered up to the bed beside me while I placed the tulips into a large vase full of long-stemmed roses in full bloom that Palpatine had brought. “She keeps asking us if we can move things with our thoughts.”  
I sighed and reached for my daughter. “Angeline, whenever she asks for those kinds of things, say you can’t, please. And tell your brothers to do the same. Where are your brothers?”  
“They’re jealous ‘cause you have to spend so much time with the babies.”  
I sighed. I should have expected it. “Can you tell them I want to see them?”  
“Sure, Mither. I’ll tell them. The peaches are ripe and they’re picking in the yard.”  
Angeline slid off of the bed and scampered off. Soon, Beauregard and Lee came sullenly in.  
Lee clambered up to me when he saw that both my arms and the bed were momentarily free of babies, though their cradles were within reach. With his small, azure arms, he grabbed onto my torso and squeezed. Beauregard stayed back and glared at me under his dark brows.  
Lee bounced up and down on the bed. “Mither! Are you all better?”  
I laughed. “Almost, Lee. I’m very tired still, but I’ll be fine soon.”  
Lee boisterously began jumping up and down. This was too much for me, so I put a hand out. “Lee, no. Don’t jump. You’re hurting me.”  
Lee abashedly slid down the bed. “I’m sorry, Mither.”  
I reached out and caressed the side of my second eldest’s face. “There’s nothing for you to be sorry about. If anything, it’s my fault that I can’t play with you. Don’t you worry, I’ll be better soon and things can go back to normal. Run along back to the garden and play.”  
Lee grinned and raced away, but Beauregard stayed. His hands were jammed firmly into his pant’s pockets and his face was sullen. I lifted myself up and turned to him. Raising my arms, I waited and hoped.  
Beauregard stared at me for a long time, and then began his long, slow walk to my bedside. He stopped a few inches beyond my fingers. “Mither, why’d you go and get more babies?”  
“Because I loved you all so much that I wanted more to love with the same intensity.”  
“Why is it taking so long to get you back?”  
“I had a hard labor, and it’s just going to take time. I’m really almost all better.”  
“Will things really go back to normal?”  
“No, Beauregard. Things will never be the same, but that doesn’t mean that I’ll stop loving you.”  
Beauregard stepped hesitantly within reach and I reeled my eldest son in like a trout.  
“Have I been a brat?”  
“Well, you haven’t been very cooperative, but I wouldn’t call you a brat.”  
Beauregard and I cuddled together for a while, but I soon allowed him to go back to his play. For a long time, I sat and counted the minutes, but I soon stood up. I had spent enough time in bed.

Leia did not mention training for my children again. It was summer, and it was time to get on with life.  
Beauregard and Lee had been introduced to the holonet by Leia and I found myself resenting that. I had wanted my children to be kept away from news and television shows. There was one channel that they always begged for, though. Organized sports.  
In Theed, there was a youth sports program that accepted my sons into the most novice sports teams, and I had them choose between any of the sports offered. To my amazement, they chose soccer.   
As far as I had seen, Beauregard and Lee weren’t interested in soccer, but I soon found that I was wrong. They knew every rule in the game and grasped it well. To my further surprise, Angeline, who had asked to be allowed to learn in a ballet and dance studio that she had seen in a commercial, wanted to play with her brothers.  
I told Angeline that she would have to choose between Ballet and soccer. She chose ballet, but practiced soccer at home with her brothers.

The last night that I saw Palpatine was five months after my labor. He came in at two o’clock in the morning and he was hounded and tired. I noticed that he had a burn and several bruises.  
“Palpatine? What happened?”  
Palpatine looked at me as if he didn’t know me. “I had a run in with your Jedi friend.”  
“He’s not my friend. I tolerate his existence.”  
“And yet you set him on me.”  
“What else could I do to keep our children safe? I was pregnant, Palpatine! How am I supposed to keep that secret?”  
Palpatine shook his head. “I’m sorry, Thrawn. I’m very tired and you don’t deserve that.”  
“You’re barely keeping upright. Come, you need sleep. Are you hungry?”  
Palpatine shook his head. “I need to sleep. Maybe in the morning.”  
I tucked Palpatine into bed and he fell asleep almost immediately. However, within thirty minutes, Ashvaria woke up.  
Ashvaria was hard to read for me. She could not cry out loud, but she had a telepathic ability. Her voice cut into my dreams and I leapt out of bed. She continued to cry in my mind as I desperately tried to figure out what was wrong.  
“Give her to me.”  
I turned. Palpatine was sitting up in bed and holding out his hands. “She knows I’m here.”  
I gave our daughter to her father and watched. After a few moments, her wail stilled, and her eyes opened. Ashvaria’s eyes were cloudy and light and I knew that they could not even differentiate light from dark, but she opened them anyway.  
Palpatine bent low over his daughter and pressed a kiss to her head. “Our children are all beautiful, but I think that this one is the most beautiful.”  
I leaned over. I must admit that I have never been able to consider my daughter’s outward appearance beautiful. Ashvaria is scarred and patched, and even Palpatine’s burning red in her hair, so beautiful on its own and on my other children, seems grotesque and false.  
“She is not beautiful in that way.”  
I jumped.  
“It was obvious. You wear your thoughts easily. You must be careful around this one. She has great powers of telepathy. Always remember that.”  
I abashedly nodded. “I will. What did she want earlier?”  
Palpatine gave me a blank look. “What?”  
“Why was she crying?”  
“Oh, that. She sensed my presence and wanted to be held. I am her father.” He handed Ashvaria back to me. “Put her back in her cradle with Loki.”  
I tucked Ashvaria down beside her sibling. My only two hermaphrodite children snuggled down into sleep. “Palpatine. I must ask. Why did you name these two as if they were single-sex?”  
“Why did your subordinates call you sir?”  
“Because I have the appearance of masculinity, and saw no particular need to correct them.”  
“I saw a brief glimpse of the future when I named those. I saw that one would look like a man and one like a woman. I named them accordingly.”  
I checked on my other newborns before coming back to bed. “I will not pretend to understand.”  
“Good. I don’t want you to pretend. I hate it when people say that they understand something that they will never truly comprehend. Noblesse Oblige.”  
“I do not know whether to be offended or not.”  
“Don’t. Do you not remember when we argued over whether one of your officers was better than another?”

“Are certain men better than others?”  
“What do you mean?”  
“Take these men that I have under me for example. One was ruthless and terrifying. The ones under him were afraid and did their tasks perfectly, but they hated him and he suffered an accident and died. The other will never rise above his rank. His methods of leadership do not get results, but his men under him love him and would die for him.”  
“The one who is dead was better than the other at getting results on a short term, but the other one gets no results. Therefore, the one who is dead was better.”  
“And yet he is dead.”  
“That does throw a wrench in the machine.”

“Of course I remember.”  
Palpatine waved one hand and the lights went out. “Both are superior to each other. One in one way and the other in another. The simple fact is that I am better with the Force.”  
“And what am I better at?”  
“Carrying children.”  
We laughed softly together and I soon drifted off to sleep.  
Palpatine was still there at four o’clock in the morning when the rest of my babies woke me up. They woke him too and he watched while I nursed our newborns.  
“You’re prettiest when you’re nursing,” he informed me.  
“Why is that?” I laid Anno down and picked up Ashvaria  
“You become peaceful and a different kind of smile begins on your face. Now, don’t get me wrong. You’re gorgeous the rest of the time and during an encounter you’re ravishing, but for simple prettiness… Nursing takes the cake.”  
I blushed easily around Palpatine. I always did, but it wasn’t always noticeable to most people.  
“Oops, I correct myself. You’re absolutely prettiest when you’re nursing and blushing.”  
I had to laugh. I couldn’t help myself.  
“How many children do we have now? Eight?”  
“Yes, Palpatine. Eight.”  
“Wow, that’s a big number for this day and age. Do you want any more?”  
“It is not unheard of for a Chiss to have up to twenty children in four birthings.”  
“How many survive?”  
“Ten usually.”  
“And at what age do they die?”  
“From inside the womb at the seventh month to five months after birth.”  
Palpatine rolled onto his front. “Chiss have a death allele.”  
I almost dropped Ashvaria and Loki. “We have what?”  
“A death allele, it means that there is a trait that the Chiss have which kills the babies. There’s a certain species of bird that has it too.”  
“Why have none of our children died then?”  
“I believe that the human blood that I brought to the party interrupted the cycle of the allele and either eliminated it or simply foiled it.”  
I considered Palpatine’s speech. “Then…”  
“If, for one generation, every Chiss mated with a different species, then the allele could be virtually wiped out.”  
I was speechless, but then I was laughing. Laughing in such a fashion that made my children cry. “So,” I choked, “the policies on species purity… It’s hurting the Chiss?”  
“Yes, apparently.”  
I regained control, soothed my infants, and returned to bed. A final fit of laughter went through me and I reached for Palpatine.

The second time I woke up, Palpatine was gone. There was a peace rose on my pillow and a pair of gloves lay underneath it.  
They were made of black silk and were decorated with a repeating pattern of Palpatine’s sigil of triangles down to the fingers. On the back of each one, a shield-shaped section of metal gleamed with the same sigil outlined in tiny diamonds. They must have been expensive.  
I fitted them on and played with them for a short time, but then I went quietly up to the attic and hid them away with all of the other connections between Palpatine and my children.

Luke Skywalker came to visit me only a few days after my last encounter with Palpatine. Listening dumbfounded, I heard him tell me that for the second time, Palpatine was dead.   
“Was it quick?” I asked.  
“Very. I killed him with a Lightsaber.”  
“And did he say anything?”  
“He didn’t have time when I defeated him, but before our battle, he said that he was sorry he would have to kill me. I had so much potential, but I had to die, because he couldn’t leave you alone with his children to care for again.”  
I stroked Anno’s head and cradled him closer to my body. “Thank you, Master Skywalker.”  
“My pleasure, Grand Admiral Thrawn.”

Master Skywalker left after a few more pleasantries and I sat alone with my infants. My older children, about to turn five, were racing around in the halls inside the manor and screaming joy in their childish voices.  
I am not given to tears usually. It is not my preferred mode of emotional expression, but I had to weep then. After I had finished, I got up and went to prepare dinner for my children.

Life goes on with cruel normalcy after a loved one dies. Simply because my heart was broken did not mean that the world stopped spinning or the harvests stopped coming. The second winter we spent at Convergence was a long and harsh one. Trapped inside by freezing temperatures and high winds, my children were rambunctious little bundles of energy. The wheat crop was lost in a hail storm and the citrus were barely brought in before the first frosts hit.  
Leia and Luke began to take it in turns to visit and help me out. With their accurate perceptions, they had figured out that I was having difficulty keeping up with my children, my house, and my estate.  
My third pregnancy was difficult indeed. I was plagued by fever and aches and pains that had no cure or respite.  
Luke was taking his bi-weekly turn the day that Angeline first showed the overt signs of Force-power that I had hoped would never appear. Coming into my room, she was playing with one of her toys, a doll, by making it walk beside her. I had just woken from a nap and was getting up. “Look, Mither, I learned a new trick.”  
When I saw the doll, I knelt down and held its arms and legs in a neutral position and handed it to her. “Angeline, please don’t.”  
“What’s wrong, Mither?”  
“Shh, Angeline. If Luke or Leia sees you or your brothers doing things like that, they might take you all away from me.”  
“Take us away? Like they took Wist in the story? Why?”  
Wist is a character in one of Angeline’s favorite story books. In his tale, he is taken as a page by a lord and trained to be a knight, but soon after he leaves, his parents are killed by bandits and he never sees them again.  
“Yes, like Wist. Tell your brothers I want to see them and you tonight after Luke has gone to sleep, all right?”

Taking any chance to stay up late, my three eldest children huddled close at the end of the bed in the master bedroom. In hushed tones, I told them what Jedi training meant for young children and how parents and families had been split up and never seen again.  
Angeline nodded, “Just like Wist.”  
Beauregard shook his head and folded his arms. “I wouldn’t let them take me. I’d kill ‘em!”  
Lee scoffed. “We’re not even eight years old, we can’t just go around killing people!”  
I reached for them and held my children close, much to Beauregard and Lee’s disgust. “I hope you never have to kill people.”

Augustus was nursing when Luke knocked at the door. The young Jedi was maturing nicely, and according to public rumor, a wedding was in his near future. Not that I meant to pry, but he made it so obvious as to be painful whenever a certain young lady named Mara Jade was in his presence.  
I picked up a blanket and tossed it over my shoulder before calling out. “Yes?”  
“Thrawn? May I talk to you?”  
“Come in, I’m decent.”  
Luke stepped over the threshold. “Are you busy?”  
“Define busy.” I was watching my children with one eye out of a window while holding one baby to my breast and keeping an eye on the other four to see who would go next. “I thought you were watching the children.”  
“Threepio and Artoo are with them.” Luke sat down. “Can I ask you a question?”  
“It would depend upon the question.”  
“How did you and the Emperor…?” he pointed to my children.  
I walked to the window and put one hand on the cool glass.

“Admiral, the Emperor requires your presence.” Thrawn had known that the Red Guard was going to say that the moment he knocked on the door.  
“Very well, give me a few minutes to make myself presentable, and I will come.” Thrawn dressed and followed the Guard down the long, moonlit corridor.  
The Emperor was in his private audience room and looked up as Thrawn approached. “Ah, Thrawn. Come close.”  
Thrawn had never been disgusted or afraid of the Emperor, and now was no exception. He met that cool yellow gaze without a wince or twinge. “You summoned me, Emperor?”  
“Yes, for a very specific reason.” The Emperor leaned forward and fixed Thrawn with his gaze. “You are aware that there is no heir to the throne?”  
Thrawn blinked. “I always assumed that Darth Vader-“  
The Emperor looked disgusted. “No, not Vader. Have you ever seen the man? He can’t take the throne.”  
Thrawn leaned his head back. “You can’t mean-“  
“I don’t. Doubtless you would be a fine Emperor, but I would prefer someone of my own blood.” He leaned to the side slightly and continued. “I want you to find me a woman of near-human descent who can be trusted to be discreet for at least twenty years. At that point, when my child is grown up enough, he or she will take the throne and I will retire.”  
Thrawn nodded. “And you wish for me to find such a woman?”  
“Yes. I will give you full access to all records and to my quarters. You will have whatever you need.”  
Thrawn nodded, saluted and was dismissed.  
Thrawn considered many women over the course of the next six months, but there was always one or another stumbling block. It all came down to how they would react after a time when it occurred to them, incorrectly of course, that they possibly had the Emperor in their power. That was when it occurred to Thrawn. Of course, he was such an idiot. There was only one female that he could be absolutely sure of.

At three o’clock in the morning, Thrawn stole through the corridors of the Imperial Palace. He was still trying to talk himself out of his chosen course of action. Perhaps there was someone he hadn’t examined yet. Perhaps-  
Thrawn stopped short and shook himself. There was no one else. No one at all. It all came down to whether or not he had the courage to follow through or if he would have to wait for the Emperor to call his bluff. As he would, doubtless.

There were no Red Guards at the Emperor’s door. That gave Thrawn pause, but he punched in the Emperor’s code and went in. Through a hall that would have been deadly if he were an intruder, under an ornate arch, across a living room, past a portrait painted by a famous artist, and to a final door, Thrawn walked without seeing. It was a full half hour before he gathered the courage to punch a second code in and step into the Emperor’s private suite.  
The carpet was plush under Thrawn’s feet and he pulled off his boots and jacket. The boots were set beside the door and the jacket was folded neatly and laid on top of them. There was moonlight flooding through a window in the wall and it illuminated an antique four-poster bed covered in a multitude of rich covers. The entire suite was a testament to the comfort that the Emperor did not allow himself anywhere but here, where no one saw. For a moment, Thrawn pitied him, but he gathered himself and walked toward the bed.  
The Emperor looked oddly vulnerable as he lay on the wide mattress. His cloak was gone and his paralyzing eyes closed. Of course, it lasted a mere moment. After that, he took his own sweet time waking up and recognizing him. Thrawn was almost ready to bolt by the time he was addressed, “Thrawn. I trust you have not disturbed me in the middle of the night for nothing?”  
Thrawn snapped to attention. “I have found an acceptable woman.”  
“Good. Who is she?”  
Thrawn stuttered and choked on the words until the Emperor reached out with a mental probe and uncovered what he was so desperately trying to say.  
Thrawn fought instinctively, but realized that struggle was futile.  
The Emperor considered the young Chiss for several long moments. His weird yellow eyes blazed in the dark shadows that coalesced around his bed. For the first time, Thrawn had difficulty meeting those eyes.  
The covers turned down and a pale, bony hand beckoned Thrawn forward. The Chiss hesitated, “What about marriage?”  
The Emperor raised an eyebrow. “What about it?”  
“Isn’t it what… people do?”  
“Not only is it currently unnecessary, but it would be dangerous. There are always witnesses to a legal marriage.”  
Thrawn inched forward and dark powers coalesced around him, urging forward.  
“Besides, I do not believe that you waited until the middle of the night to tell me this expecting to be honorably married.”  
It was true: he hadn’t expected anything of the kind.

Thrawn stepped away from the window. “It was all very logical and straightforward.”  
“How was it straightforward?”  
“Really, Luke, don’t you think that’s rather a personal question?”  
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to offend.”  
“I’m not offended. My feelings are… complicated.”  
“I can imagine.”  
“No, you really can’t.”

It was a month before I was scheduled to deliver and something was different. Not necessarily wrong, just different.  
I couldn’t sleep. Purple storm clouds were gathering on the horizon and an occasional crackle of lightning lit the earth. A cold, spectral wind blew over me and suddenly I was not alone.  
Palpatine leaned on the balcony beside me. “You shouldn’t be out here in the chill, love.”  
“Palpatine.” His warm arm around my shoulders. My side pressed into his.   
A lightning strike sparked a fire and my… what? What was he? He lifted one hand and snuffed it as easily as one might a candle.  
“Can the children do without you for a little time?”  
“Yes. The last has been weaned, but Palpatine-“ he shushed me.  
“Not right now, darling. We can’t take them with us and I have to leave quickly.”  
The wind blew cold as ice and we dissolved.

When I was capable of forming a coherent thought again, I was lying in a huge black bed and my entire body burned. Palpatine was nearby.  
“Love? Are you still with me?”  
“I’m all right.” I moaned and caught sight of several incubators. “What-?”  
“The shadow travel induced labor. I performed a caesarean section while you were still unconscious.”  
“Are they…?”  
“Fine, absolutely fine.” Palpatine smiled softly. “Don’t worry about a thing.”  
“Where are they?”  
“Right here. I’m afraid we can’t hold them yet, but I named them.”  
“What names?”  
Palpatine indicated each hyrid. “This one is Gilad for your second. Prim is this little girl. Cour is a take on the word courage, he was a difficult one. And Dova is the youngest of four.”  
Thrawn smiled at them. “Palpatine, I’ve been thinking.”  
Palpatine smoothed her hair. “That’s not surprising. What are you thinking about?”  
“I was thinking that it might be a better time to be married now.”  
Palpatine was totally silent as he rose. “Thrawn…”  
“It’s just that… well, this isn’t really decent. We’re parents now. I’m not just your Mistress anymore.”  
Palpatine sighed. “Would it be entirely decent to marry? I mean, that suggests a certain support of me and my policies that your neighbors might find bad.”  
“I’m a whore, Palpatine.” She whispered quietly. “My children are a whore’s bastard brats. My neighbors already think badly of me.”  
Palpatine turned away. “I’ll think of it.”

Byss was Palpatine’s secret haven. He was readying himself for another offense against the New Republic. While she was away, Luke and Leia were taking care of her children.  
Thrawn didn’t particularly care about anything but the fact that her children were across the galaxy from her and Palpatine didn’t speak to her much anymore.  
Her world was falling to pieces.

When he began destroying planets, she began to realise that there was an element of madness in him that hadn’t been there previously.  
She was coming up fast on a corner and the paint was still flying. 

She was becoming heavy with child again when Palpatine told her that Luke and Leia were coming to attempt to stop him.  
Thrawn was in the grand hall when the Jedi finally arrived.

Luke took careful note of Thrawn’s position. She was standing, half-hidden behind a throne. Her expression was unreadable.  
“Don’t look to her for help, Young Skywalker.”  
Luke turned his attention back to the… Re-reborn? Emperor.  
Palpatine stood up and loosened his cloak. “I will enjoy defeating you, Skywalker.”  
As Palpatine stepped forward, Thrawn stepped out from behind the chair. “Go and tend your children, Thrawn.”  
“I will.” Thrawn stabbed forward. “I will.” She released the handle of the dagger.  
Palpatine’s expression was entirely shocked.  
Thrawn stood over him as he fell. “The password for the self-destruct sequence is “Empress.” Get moving.”  
Luke and Leia moved. Thrawn knelt beside Palpatine. “I’m sorry, Palpatine. I love you.”  
Palpatine choked and reached for his pocket. “I was thinking of what you said…” His hands shook as he pushed a ring box into her hand. “Go… our babies…”  
Thrawn brushed the red hair back from his forehead and closed his piercing eyes. “Good-bye.”

She was watching when the base exploded and laid her forehead against the viewport.  
Luke patted her shoulder. “I’m sorry.”  
Thrawn glanced at him. “What are you sorry for?”  
“Everything.”  
“You had a very small part in that.”  
Luke turned his eyes back to the explosion. “So, did I miss the cake?”  
Thrawn stared at him, “What?”  
“The cake. You’re wearing wedding rings.”  
Thrawn looked down at the three rings on her finger. The center one contained a black diamond. “There wasn’t a cake.”  
“Too bad. I didn’t think that weddings were very nice without the cake. Did you wear your uniform or a gown?”  
“My uniform.” Thrawn turned his face back to the port. “Leave me be for now.”

Her children were mad as bumblebees. After their reunion, she went back to their routine.  
Her final children were triplets: Lorth, Algernon, and Wilhuff. All boys.  
Thrawn never took another mate, and she passed her own story on to her children. There’s more to this family’s story, but the future belongs to Ashvaria.


End file.
